1/5/2024 0 Comments Jack palanceHe continued to do Westerns, such as 1966’s " The Professionals" (100% on the Tomatometer) and " Young Guns". The second nom was for his Jack Wilson, an evil gunslinger in 1953’s " Shane." At 100% Tomatometer, it was a critical and commercial smash, and it cemented Palance’s main Hollywood image: serious, imposing, and an able go-to guy for Westerns.Īfter this early artistic peak, his roles and movies became so varied that he covered virtually every genre. The first Oscar nom was for 1952’s " Sudden Fear" a noir thriller in which Palance played an actor trying to seduce perennial noir damsel-in-distress Joan Crawford. It was only two years after "Panic in the Streets" that Palance received his first Oscar nomination, and only one year after that he would receive his second. Across his fifty year acting legacy, he portrayed, on average, two roles a year, not including his numerous guest appearances on television. In 1950, Palance’s luck turned and he made a distinguished film debut as a villain named Blackie in Elia Kazan‘s " Panic in the Streets." From that pulp masterpiece, Palance’s output never let up steam. Afterwards, he had a stint in the Army Air Corps and worked variously as a short-order cook, lifeguard, waiter, and hot dog vendor. He fought for two years, but nothing was accomplished other than having his nose broken, which would serve him well for his numerous villain roles. Well over six feet and 200 pounds, he became a prizefighter. Surrounded by family at his California ranch, he passed away from natural causes at the age of 87.īefore breaking into Hollywood, Palance attended the University of North Carolina on a football scholarship. But if I'd written more of his adventures, he probably would have.Jack Palance, who made a career out of bullying good guys and portraying stern, craggy-faced menaces, died Friday. Quite the contrary, he thought Palance had a great screen presence, giving off a power that was worth putting to use in a comic book.Īlso to the best of my knowledge, whenever Darkseid scored a triumph, he never dropped to the floor and did one-handed push-ups. And I want to emphasize that Kirby had no negative thoughts whatsoever about the actor. To the best of my knowledge, Jack Palance was unaware that one of his screen images was purloined for a comic book baddie, and no one seems to have thought of voicecasting him for any of Darkseid's animated appearances. Hyde, with Palance in both title roles, but I don't see any points of comparison.) In the same way and in the same series, Kirby based the likeness of businessman Morgan Edge on actor Kevin McCarthy and super-heroine Big Barda on singer Lainie Kazan (right after she was in Playboy) while a villain named Glorious Godfrey was an amalgam of Billy Graham and Arthur Godfrey. Another Kirby scholar has suggested the 1968 TV-Movie, The Strange Case of Dr. wrote dialogue for his comic book evildoer, he was "hearing" Palance in some film. They inspired some aspect of Darkseid…a look, a posture, a gesture, whatever. I don't mean that he thought the other Jack had ever tried to enslave the universe…but Kirby had been impressed by one or more Palance screen appearances. Nixon was kind of the monster du jour for many in 1970 and he's still a fine template for various forms of villainy.īeyond that kind of thing, it is not uncommon for comic artists to "cast" their creations, using someone they know or have observed as reference, and Kirby used Jack Palance as a model for Darkseid. The style and substance of this master antagonist were based on just about every power-mad tyrant Kirby had ever met or observed, with a special emphasis on Richard Milhous Nixon. Darkseid has appeared often in the pages of DC Comics ever since and also made it onto TV cartoons and the toy shelves. In 1970, the great comic book creator Jack Kirby introduced a villain named Darkseid (pronounced "Dark-SIDE") who has since become one of the great bad guys in the history of the medium. However, I can't help but mention an interesting sidelight to the man's stellar career. ![]() Palance and have absolutely no anecdotes about him. ![]() Sorry to hear of the passing of actor Jack Palance, a classy presence in an awful lot of movies over the years.
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